


Snow People

by talibusorabat (hermitcave)



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-08
Updated: 2011-12-08
Packaged: 2017-10-27 01:57:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/290408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hermitcave/pseuds/talibusorabat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>That’s what snow was, really. Snow was friendship, and community, and belonging. Things that Ben seemed to have been missing for a long time.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Snow People

**Author's Note:**

> For tirwen_star03 over at the [Leslie/Ben Holiday Fest](http://leslie-ben.livejournal.com/223362.html) on Livejournal. The prompt was "Playing in the snow. (In particular - but it's not essential - I would love something in which Leslie builds a snowman version of Ben, using some creative materials to recreate his hair.) "
> 
> Spoilers for "The Trial of Leslie Knope".

Leslie loved Ben. Really really really loved Ben. Like, more than waffles - but not as much as Ann. (Best friends were for _life_ , after all. Boyfriends were only for until you got married. Then they became husbands. Wait, why was she thinking about husbands? That’s ridiculous.) But she had forgotten, in the period where they had been broken up, just how late he slept.

Honestly, who slept until _seven AM_ on a holiday?

It was adorable, but kind of boring. There was only so long she could lie there, staring at his stupid face before she got tempted to do things to it, and Ben wasn’t as excited about 3 o’clock in the morning sex as one would expect.

Yesterday she had occupied herself with a baking spree, but she didn’t have enough tupperware or whipped cream to do that again. So today, after waking up and staring at his stupid face for forty-five minutes and wondering what kind of crazy health initiatives he’d start as First Gentleman, she bundled herself up and went outside.

Leslie loved snow. Not nearly as much as Ben and certainly not as much as waffles, but quite possibly more than Harry Potter - it was a tough call. Each snowflake was so beautiful and unique, like the citizens of Pawnee. It made her think of snuggling blankets and hot chocolate and two hour lectures on why it was not appropriate to recreate the massacre of the Wamapoke in a snowball fight. That was how she first met Ken Hotate. She smiled at the memory. He had been all tired and cranky about having to explain cultural sensitivity yet _again_ , and then somehow it had become a snow sculpture contest. His recreation of Chief Wakote had been very impressive, and she liked to think that the kids learned a little something that day.

That’s what snow was, really. Snow was friendship, and community, and belonging. Things that Ben seemed to have been missing for a long time.

She grinned.  


———

  
At 5:30, the front door cracked open.

“You realize you’re crazy, right?”

Leslie turned and smiled brightly at him. He looked so cute in his plaid pajamas and thick black robe and Spider Man slippers. Almost too cute to have sex with. _Almost_.

“Even the most chronic workaholics are asleep at this hour when they’re on vacation,” he informed her. Technically, she was on suspension, but Leslie didn’t have time to quibble over details because he finally noticed. “What are you doing?”

“Ta da!” She jumped aside and did her best Vanna White impersonation. “It’s Snow Ben!”

The stick that was his left arm fell out, so she grabbed it and made like the snowman was waving. “Hey there Human Ben! It’s nice to meet you!”

Ben just stared at her, with that special look of his that she secretly loved - the look that said he thought she was batshit crazy but he loved it. Dave used to look at her like that sometimes too. You weren’t supposed to compare old boyfriends to new, but that had been one of her favorite things about Dave. And that had taught her something, that she wanted someone to look at her like that. Like he wasn't just tolerating her little quirks (Mark) or recording them to laugh at with other people (Justin), but genuinely loved them.

“Why is Snow Ben glowing?” Human Ben asked.

“He’s wearing plaid! See?” Leslie pointed to the Christmas lights that she had wrapped around Snow Ben’s torso, trying to emulate Human Ben’s wonderfully awful plaid shirts. “And a little baby carrot for his nose! Because he’s very health conscious, just like you.”

“Is his buddy Snow Chris made of all vegetables?”

She laughed. “Maybe!”

He squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the snowman in the dark. “What’s his hair made of?”

“I’m…not sure,” Leslie admitted. “I found it near where the raccoons are nesting. I didn’t want to ask too many questions.”

“Yeeeah okay me neither.”

For a moment they just smiled at each other.

“Are you hungry?” she finally asked. “I can make some of Ann’s pancakes.”

“And leave Snow Ben alone?” Ben asked. “We can’t do that.” He vanished, almost like a ninja, and reappeared moments later wearing heavy boots and mittens - but still in his pajamas and robe.

“What are you doing?” Leslie asked. “Don’t come out here! You’ll catch your death of cold.”

“Please, I’m from Minnesota,” Ben scoffed. “Also I am way too hungry to take the time to change.”

“So get back inside! I already said I’d make you breakfast.”

“Not until we find Snow Leslie,” Ben said. “Bens aren’t much good without their Leslies.”

She kicked some snow at him. The pink in her cheeks was totally from the cold, shut up. Snickering, he leaned over to give her a kiss. “We won’t get the raccoons to help with her hair, though,” he said.

“That would be gross,” Leslie agreed.  


———

  
Twenty minutes later, they surveyed their work. They had stolen the wreath from the front door for Snow Leslie’s hair. The color was all wrong, but the texture was strangely accurate for when she woke up in the morning. The stick used for her right arm crossed paths with the stick of Snow Ben’s left. Human Leslie took Human Ben’s hand and squeezed it.

“They look pretty happy, don’t they?” she asked.

“They do,” Ben agreed.

“You don’t think Snow Ben’s going to regret it, do you?” She deliberately didn’t look at him. “Like, he really loves Snow Leslie but he could have been hanging out at so many more important lawns. Like City Hall. Or the White House.”

“No.” Ben shook his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “The White House was always more Snow Leslie’s thing. Snow Ben is perfectly happy just cooking breakfast.” He kissed her head. “Let’s get inside. I’ll make eggs.”

“What about pancakes?” Leslie asked, walking with him towards the front door.

“You need to get some actual protein in your diet.”

Leslie huffed. “Snow Ben isn’t such a tyrant,” she said.

“Snow Ben isn’t in it for the long haul.”

And there was that thrill, two thirds pleasure, one third surprise. It shouldn’t surprise her - not after what he did for her - but it did.

“He _is_ going to melt in the spring,” she said.

“That’s the problem with snow people,” Ben agreed.

Leslie sighed. “I guess I’m better off with Human Ben after all.”

There was that look again. “I’m relieved… I think.”  


———

  
Minutes after they closed the door behind them, a raccoon scurried out from under the house. It sniffed a bit around Snow Ben, then stole his nose. 


End file.
